WELCOME TO THE PRO REPORT, where we’re wondering if we should make like Edward Snowden and shove pillows in our door frames to muffle the waves of recording devices. Is Uncle Sam listening right now? The NSA saga continues, today zeroing in on this 29-year-old whistleblower who will likely get his own entry in the history books. Email me policy tips and rumors, whether it’s on NSA, immigration or the IRS: rbade@politico.com. Or tweet me @ RachaelMBade and follow @ POLITICOPro.

TODAY’S TOP NEWS:

Story Continued Below

1) OBAMA’S RELIEF: SNOWDEN. The Snowden drama is actually good news for President Barack Obama, and Pro’s Darren Samuelsohn and David Nather explain why: “The 29-year-old contractor who says he leaked the documents on the National Security Agency’s snooping activities has become a gripping story on his own — stealing the show from the spying program itself. Now the media is fixated on new questions about Snowden’s motivations, background and decisions — like the one to flee to Hong Kong. It’s a reprieve for Obama, who was taking hits in the press from Democrats and even some Republicans for running a program they cried is too reminiscent of the George W. Bush era — a new storyline that takes the focus off Obama, even briefly.” http://politi.co/13Smi74

2) JOURNO WARS: GREENWALD VS. GELLMAN. Mackenzie Weinger on the public rivalry between The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald and Barton Gellman for The Washington Post. “The public tiff between two journalists who have led the way on disclosing National Security Agency surveillance offers a rare window into high-stakes negotiations between reporters and their sources. It illustrates the balance between publishing secrets and protecting the nation’s security — and shows the risks that a source thought to be exclusive to one outlet might peddle his news scoop elsewhere. …

“Gellman wrote that Snowden asked for a guarantee that the Post would publish, within 72 hours, all the PowerPoint slides he provided on PRISM. When Gellman said he couldn’t promise that, Snowden went to Greenwald, according to Gellman’s account. Greenwald fired back via Twitter on Monday morning. ‘Bart Gellman’s claims about Snowden’s interactions with me — when, how and why — are all false.’” http://politi.co/11rlNxW

3) STATE SCANDAL PART II: COVER-UP OF PROSTITUTION, DRUGS? The State Department is in hot water again — but this time, not because of Benghazi. CBS News: “[T]he State Department may have covered up allegations of illegal and inappropriate behavior within their ranks. … [A]ccording to an internal State Department inspector general's memo, several recent investigations were influenced, manipulated or simply called off. The memo obtained by CBS News cited eight specific examples. Among them: allegations that a State Department security official in Beirut ‘engaged in sexual assaults’ on foreign nationals hired as embassy guards and the charge and that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security detail ‘engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries’ — a problem the report says was ‘endemic.’ The memo also reveals details about an ‘underground drug ring’ operating near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and supplied State Department security contractors with drugs.” http://cbsn.ws/13tgBfB

HOT TICKET MONDAY: TWEETS FROM HILLZ. Looks like someone’s still eyeing a 2016 presidential bid. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made her Twitter debut Monday, nodding to her two fans who created the viral blog, “Texts From Hillary” (Flashback: http://bit.ly/HhbPLP). Her first tweet under @HillaryClinton: “Thanks for the inspiration @ASmith83 & @Sllambe — I'll take it from here... #tweetsfromhillary” By 5 p.m., she had more than 171,000 followers.

HOT TICKET TONIGHT: ASSANGE PRAISES SNOWDEN. Rebecca Elliott for POLITICO: “WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange revealed that he has been in communication with NSA leaker Edward Snowden, citing him as an example of those who support the release of classified media. Assange called in to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Emma Alberici on Monday from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and the interview will air on ABC’s Lateline on Monday night. ‘We have had indirect communication with his people,’ Assange revealed, referring to Snowden. … Assange said that the former NSA contractor exemplifies what his organization tries to do.” http://politi.co/13tXTV4

UP TUESDAY: DOJ, FBI, NSA TO BRIEF HOUSE. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Deputy Director of the FBI Sean Joyce, NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis and Robert Litt, the general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will huddle with House members to talk NSA cellphone and Internet data collection, reports POLITICO’s Jake Sherman. http://politi.co/11D6GWf

— Don’t miss POLITICO reporter Tal Kopan’s “10 things to know” about Edward Snowden, including that he never graduated high school, is a Ron Paul donor and wasn’t a very friendly neighbor. http://politi.co/11RPDeJ

TUESDAY MARKUP OF THE DAY: USTR NOMINATION. Senate Finance lawmakers will vote at 10 a.m. on Michael Froman, Obama’s nominee to be U.S. trade representative, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced today. The deputy national security adviser for international economics is in an awkward position since he has $500,000 in offshore holdings through a Citigroup investment account in the Cayman Islands — and Obama has criticized individuals and companies for parking their cash overseas to avoid the tax collector. Oops. Still, that’s not expected to trip him up. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had a similar problem but was easily confirmed.

HAPPY ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY to all ye covering the IRS scandal. Steven Sloan, Pro tax editor, smartly notes that it’s been one month since the whole debacle erupted on May 10. Flashback: Lois Lerner, American Bar Association, planted question, then mass chaos…

THIS WEEK IN THE SENATE: IMMIGRATION. Once the Senate passes the farm bill Monday, it will turn Tuesday to open up debate on the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill. Don’t expect that vote to be controversial in any sense. Even Republicans who want to see changes to the legislation are eager to begin floor work, which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hopes to wrap up before Fourth of July recess. The more contentious questions of border security, visas and back taxes will rear their heads once lawmakers move to the amendment process.

—Flag it: Obama will express support for the bill on Tuesday alongside leaders from the business, labor, law enforcement and religious communities.

ALSO MOVING THIS WEEK: NDAA. Both chambers will also be chipping away at the massive National Defense Authorization Act that approves military spending for fiscal year 2014. House Rules at 5 p.m. Tuesday will prep the legislation for floor consideration. Across the Rotunda, the Senate Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of the bill at the subcommittee levels on Tuesday and Wednesday, then the full committee level from Wednesday through Friday.

WELCOME TO THE SENATE… FOR THE TIME BEING. At 4:30 p.m. Monday, Vice President Joe Biden swore in Jeffrey Chiesa to become the newest member of the upper chamber, filling in for the late New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg. As AP notes, he’ll only be around for four months. http://huff.to/14QlWNs

**A message from POWERJOBS: New positions on our radar this week: Legislative Director at Council on Foundations, Public Policy Development Principal at American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Director, Communications and Strategy, at U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at POWERJOBS.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**

ALSO BREAKING ON PRO TODAY —

TWO PANELS, BOTH ALIKE IN… IRS JURISDICTION. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, are taking very different approaches in their IRS scandal investigations. Where Issa has used every opportunity to publicize the investigation, throwing key witness such as Lois Lerner on the stand and releasing transcripts of private interviews with IRS employees involved, Camp has preferred a behind-the-scenes approach. Republicans on Camp’s panel are more interested in getting down to the nitty-gritty. Multiple sources see tension — though Oversight spokesman Frederick Hill called any style differences “just wrinkles.” My IRS politics story: http://politico.pro/ZFH7Dj

TECH HERO OR ENEMY OF THE STATE? Steve Friess for POLITICO: “National security leaders in Washington would love to throw Edward Snowden in jail. But in the Internet activist community, the self-proclaimed whistleblower has turned into an overnight hero — lauded as a truth teller up against the national security spy apparatus. For some, Snowden … fits into a long line of famous leakers and activists such as Daniel Ellsberg, Julian Assange and Aaron Swartz who sought to expose government wrongdoing. The community holding up Snowden represents a strain of young tech geeks and academics who are distrustful of big corporations and Big Government and adept at using online tools to rally support for causes.” http://politico.pro/19ijaaq

DOES BOOZ ALLEN HAVE A LEAK PROBLEM? Austin Wright for Pros: “Edward Snowden isn’t Booz Allen Hamilton’s first leak problem. … Last year, the Air Force considered blacklisting the company’s office in San Antonio over a leak. The incident involved a former Air Force officer hired by Booz Allen, who on his first day of work brought with him ‘sensitive,’ nonpublic information regarding an upcoming Air Force contract. Booz Allen employees accepted the information, which gave the company a ‘competitive advantage,’ and used it in internal business presentations. Six weeks later, the company’s lawyers became aware of the situation. … The employee was fired, and the company did not participate in an Air Force competition it had been eyeing.” http://politico.pro/114PMA5

S&P SEES BRIGHTER U.S. FINANCIAL OUTLOOK. The credit rating agency that downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ following the 2011 debt ceiling standoff announced better news Monday. MJ Lee for Pros: “Standard & Poor’s … revised its credit rating outlook for the United States from negative to stable citing an improving economy and recent budget deals.” The nation’s purse looks less strained down the road, S&P says, because the fiscal cliff and sequestration dented the deficit; we’re seeing “stronger-than-expected private-sector contributions to economic growth”; and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are once again raking in the money. Read: http://politico.pro/114pqym

IRS BENCHES HOLLY PAZ. The new leadership at the IRS told employees in a memo Friday, obtained by Pro’s Kelsey Snell on Monday, that they removed Holly Paz from her position as director of the rulings and agreements division. The IRS hasn’t said if she was fired or put on leave or simply moved. Who exactly is she? Well, she’s the one lawmakers have scolded for sitting in on interviews between IRS employees and the inspector general investigating the matter, potentially keeping employees from revealing all they know. http://politico.pro/16XhhjF

ON TAP TUESDAY: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at 10 a.m. testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee hearing on "department leadership." Army Secretary John McHugh in the afternoon will speak at the Army’s annual Sexual Harassment and Assault Prevention Summit at Joint Base Andrews. At 11 a.m., the House Natural Resources Committee holds a subcommittee hearing on the GOP legislation to increase energy exploration and production off the U.S. coast and create “equitable revenue sharing for all coastal states.”

POLICY AROUND THE WEB:

— Icelandic legislator Birgitta Jonsdottir and Smari McCarthy, the executive director of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, are saying they’ll support Snowden if he wants to seek asylum there, Forbes’ Andy Greenberg is reporting: http://onforb.es/ZDBMMG

— The Senate tonight is voting on a $955 billion farm bill that’s more than 1,100 pages. Curious what’s in it? The Washington Post’s Brad Plumer has a reader-friendly overview, complete with charts: http://wapo.st/12AYIQN

— Obama-nominated Jason Furman, the principal deputy director of the National Economic Council, to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Here’s 11 AEI economists applauding the appointment: http://bit.ly/19gX4Fr

— The IRS in the first half of fiscal 2013 fired fewer employees for misconduct than at any other time over the past decade, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Office of Personnel Management data out Monday. http://buswk.co/17Cq226

**A message from POWERJOBS: Tap into the power of POWERJOBS for the newest job opportunities in the Washington area from the area’s top employers, including Hickory Ground Solutions, i4DM, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Aquilent. Powered by names you trust — POLITICO, WTOP, WJLA/ABC-TV, NewsChannel 8 and Federal News Radio- POWERJOBS is the ultimate career site with more than 2 million job searches and nearly 17,000 applications submitted this year so far. Connect through Facebook or LinkedIn, search jobs by industry and set up job-specific email alerts using POWERJobs.com, the site for Washington’s top talent.**

Authors:

About The Author

Rachael Bade covers House leadership for POLITICO. In addition to her congressional correspondence, Bade has also followed and written in depth on the various investigations surrounding Hillary Clinton, including the FBI’s probe of her emails set-up as well as the House Benghazi Committee’s work.

She joined POLITICO in September 2012 as a tax reporter, covering the IRS tea party targeting scandal and Hill efforts to reform the tax code before moving to the Congress team in early 2015. Prior to POLITICO, she covered congressional committees for CQ, wrote Hill features for Roll Call and contributed to The Washington Diplomat.

Bade is a Dayton, Ohio-native and UD Flyer. She freelance dances for several contemporary ballet companies when time permits, drinks copious amounts of coffee, and enjoys Bikram, hiking and camping.